‘Red-tape challenge’ to liberate retailers from archaic regulations – The Guardian

Posted July 28th, 2011 in consultations, consumer protection, news, regulations by tracey

“Retailers will no longer have to hand over addresses of TV buyers to TV licensing authorities due to a red-tape overhaul. Nearly two-thirds of regulations specifically aimed at shop owners will be scrapped or reformed, as part of a bureaucratic tidying-up exercise by ministers.”

Full story

The Guardian, 28th July 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

British Gas fined £2.5m over complaint handling – BBC News

Posted July 27th, 2011 in complaints, consumer protection, energy, fines, news, ombudsmen by tracey

“British Gas has been fined £2.5m by the regulator Ofgem for the way in which it deals with customer complaints.”

Full story

BBC News, 27th July 2011

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Leicestershire mobility scooter conmen jailed – BBC News

Posted July 25th, 2011 in consumer protection, news, sentencing by tracey

“A father and son who conned vulnerable pensioners into buying mobility aids which were never delivered have each been jailed for 12 months.”

Full story

BBC News, 22nd July 2011

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Thousands ‘ripped off’ by unregulated will-writers – BBC News

Posted July 18th, 2011 in consumer protection, legal services, news, wills by sally

“Thousands of people are being ripped off by companies providing unregulated services such as will writing, claims the first Legal Ombudsman.”

Full story

BBC News, 18th July 2011

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

OFT investigates sites that charge for free Government services – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 15th, 2011 in consumer protection, internet, news by tracey

“Companies that set up websites to charge for free Government services could be in breach of consumer protection laws, The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has said.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 14th July 2011

Source: www.out-law.com

Ombudsman calls for earlier intervention by financial regulators – OUT-LAW.com

Posted July 4th, 2011 in complaints, consumer protection, financial regulation, news by sally

“Financial regulators must make sure that consumer complaints are dealt with more quickly according to the body that oversees them. They should intervene earlier in potential disputes, the chief ombudsman of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has said.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 30th June 2011

Source: www.out-law.com

Gebr Weber GmbH v Wittmer Putz v Medianess Electronics GmbH – WLR Daily

Posted June 29th, 2011 in consumer protection, defective goods, EC law, law reports by sally

Gebr Weber GmbH v Wittmer Putz v Medianess Electronics GmbH Joined cases C-65/09 and C-87/09; [2011] WLR (D) 210

“Where consumer goods, installed in good faith by the consumer, were not in conformity with the contract under which the consumer had purchased and and were restored to conformity by way of replacement, the seller was obliged pursuant to article 3(2)(3) of Parliament and Council Directive 1999/44/EC either to remove the goods from where they had been installed and to install the replacement goods there or else to bear the costs of that removal and installation. The seller could not refuse to replace the defective goods on the ground that the costs were disproportionate but it could limit the payment to a proportionate amount.”

WLR Daily, 16th June 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Court orders trader to repay customers after late deliveries and failure to refund purchases – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 27th, 2011 in consumer protection, electronic commerce, internet, news by sally

“A court has ordered an online trader to refund consumers that he failed to deliver goods or pay refunds to, the UK’s consumer protection regulator the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has said.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 24th June 2011

Source: www.out-law.com

Watchdog highlights ‘imbalance of power’ between consumers and lawyers – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted June 24th, 2011 in consumer protection, legal profession, legal services, news by sally

“Consumers have benefited from the first four years of the Legal Services Act, but there remains an ‘imbalance of power’ which acts to their detriment in dealing with lawyers.”

Full story

Law Society’s Gazette, 24th June 2011

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

New competition authority will deal with some consumer complaints, says Government – OUT-LAW.com

“The Government has outlined proposals to give a prospective new competition authority powers to resolve consumer complaints.”

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OUT-LAW.com, 22nd June 2011

Source: www.out-law.com

Price comparison sites may be breaking financial advice regulations, says FSA – OUT-LAW.com

Posted June 17th, 2011 in consumer protection, financial advice, insurance, internet, news by sally

“Price comparison sites may be in breach of financial advice regulations when they lead customers to insurance policies, regulator the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has said.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 16th June 2011

Source: www.out-law.com

FSA warns comparison websites over unfair treatment of customers – Daily Telegraph

Posted June 9th, 2011 in consumer protection, financial regulation, internet, news by tracey

“The Financial Services Authority has found that 19 comparison websites are treating customers unfairly after flouting rules.”

Full story

Daily Telegraph, 9th June 2011

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Konsumentombudsmannen v Ving Sverige AB – WLR Daily

Posted May 31st, 2011 in advertising, consumer protection, EC law, law reports by sally

Konsumentombudsmannen v Ving Sverige AB (Case C-122/10); [2011] WLR (D) 181

“A commercial communication constituted an ‘invitation to purchase’ within the meaning of article 2(i) of Parliament and Council Directive 2005/29/EC concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market, as soon as the information on the product and its price were sufficient for the consumer to be able to make a transactional decision. Information on price could be sufficient for those purposes where it contained an entry-level price and information on the product’s characteristics could be contained in a verbal or visual reference. It was sufficient for the purposes of providing the material information for an invitation to purchase required pursuant to article 7(4)(a) of the Directive for only certain of the product’s main characteristics to be given in that invitation and for the trader to refer in addition to its website, provided the essential information was on that website. Whether or not a reference to an entry-level price was misleading for the purposes of article 7(4)(c) was for the national court to ascertain in the circumstances of the case.”

WLR Daily, 12th May 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Please note that once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

Gym contracts ‘unfair’ court rules – The Guardian

Posted May 31st, 2011 in consumer protection, news, unfair contract terms by sally

“Anyone locked into a gym contract of a year or more should be free to cancel it without cost after a landmark ruling against the operator of membership schemes for 1,000 independent gyms across Britain.”

Full story

The Guardian, 27th May 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Ofcom bans three-year broadband and phone contracts – The Guardian

Posted May 26th, 2011 in consumer protection, contracts, news, telecommunications by sally

“Three-year broadband and phone contracts have been banned by the communications regulator Ofcom, with providers now only able to offer maximum contracts of two years. They must also make 12-month contracts available under the new regulations which bring the UK in line with EU telecoms law.”

Full story

The Guardian, 26th May 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Vodafone user wins charges battle – The Independent

Posted May 24th, 2011 in consumer protection, news, telecommunications by sally

“A mobile phone user who was sent an astronomical bill has won a battle with telecoms giant Vodafone to get his money back.”

Full story

The Independent, 23rd May 2011

Source: www.independent.co.uk

MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH v Merckle GmbH – WLR Daily

Posted May 17th, 2011 in advertising, consumer protection, EC law, internet, law reports, medicines by sally

MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH v Merckle GmbH (Case C-316/09); [2011] WLR (D) 159

“The dissemination on a website by a pharmaceutical undertaking of information relating to medicinal products available on medical prescription only, which consisted in the reproduction of the packaging, and in the literal and complete reproduction of the package leaflet or summary of the product’s characteristics, was not contrary to article 88(1)(a) of Parliament and Council Directive 2001/83/EC, as amended, prohibiting advertising to the general public of medicinal products available on medical prescription only. The dissemination of such information which had been rewritten by the manufacturer and which could only be explained by an advertising purpose was prohibited.”

WLR Daily, 5th May 2011

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Please note that once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.

LSB sets out approach to safeguarding quality in the provision of legal services – Legal Services Board

“Plans form response to the advice of the Consumer Panel on quality.”

Full press release

Legal Services Board, 12th May 2011

Source: www.legalservicesboard.org.uk

High court ruling could kick ticket touts into touch – The Guardian

Posted May 9th, 2011 in consumer protection, data protection, news, sale of goods, sport by sally

“People who sell tickets for profit on websites such as Viagogo and Seatwave could risk being ‘named and shamed’ and even face possible legal action if UK sports bodies and event promoters decide to take advantage of a landmark court ruling.”

Full story

The Guardian, 7th May 2011

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Law Commissions call for new law to be written to give consumers right to compensation – OUT-LAW.com

Posted April 18th, 2011 in compensation, consultations, consumer protection, news by sally

“A new law should be created giving consumers the right to take misleading and aggressive businesses to court, the Law Commission and Scottish Law Commission have said.”

Full story

OUT-LAW.com, 18th April 2011

Source: www.out-law.com